


You're an Idiot

by XtinaJones91



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Best Friends, Best three months, Brief mention of Serv, Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationship, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, Pining, Romantic Friendship, Sharing a Bed, Time Skips, kellex - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 14:31:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20695118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XtinaJones91/pseuds/XtinaJones91
Summary: "She doesn’t say ‘I love you’ like a normal person. Instead, she’ll laugh, shake her head, give you a little smile, and say, ‘You’re an idiot.’ If she tells you you’re an idiot, you’re a lucky [woman]."Alex and Kelley through the years and how a different set of three little words ends up meaning more as they slowly come together.





	You're an Idiot

**Author's Note:**

> Back on my bullshit and here's my second Kellex fic this month. 
> 
> Like my first one (which you can read here - https://archiveofourown.org/works/20500616), this was supposed to be a much shorter piece and then turned into a 10K-word beast #sorrynotsorry
> 
> Don't have much else to say about it other than the quote comes from How I Met Your Mother which I've seen maybe 3 episodes of ever. I saw it somewhere on Tumblr and it made me think of these 2.
> 
> Enjoy :)

_ She doesn’t say ‘I love you’ like a normal person. Instead, she’ll laugh, shake her head, give you a little smile, and say, ‘You’re an idiot.’ If she tells you you’re an idiot, you’re a lucky [woman]. _

_ \- How I Met Your Mother _

* * *

She doesn’t remember the first time Alex says it to her. She gets called an idiot about twenty times a day by ten different people (almost always endearingly). They think it’s funny because she went to Stanford and is actually smarter than your average jock, but she’s taken on the role of team frat boy which leads to a lot of dumb antics on her part both on and off the field. 

They call her other things, too, all in good fun. She likes their nicknames and enjoys the ribbing. She likes making people laugh.

She _ really _ likes making _ Alex _ laugh.

When they first meet she thinks she has Alex figured out - west coast Valley girl, stand-offish and fake nice, a rising star who is too good for the rest of the new call-ups. It doesn’t help that in the beginning they are competing for starting spots as forwards. She keeps her distance from Alex, and Alex keeps her distance from pretty much everyone except Syd and Abby, and that’s just fine.

Then they room together during one of the National Team camps and avoiding Alex isn’t really possible when they’re sharing a room. Her southern manners take over and she finds herself politely asking Alex about her hometown and teasing her for going to Cal and then somehow they end up talking past curfew. She discovers that Alex is just a little bit shy and incredibly nervous about camp which is why she initially came across as aloof, and Kelley feels bad for judging her too quickly. 

She also learns that they share a love for the beach, coffee, and Grey’s Anatomy, and that’s when she knows that she’s found herself a new friend, Cal Bears be damned.

It’s during that first night as roommates that she draws a real laugh out of Alex while telling her the story of how she got stuck climbing out of the window of a frat house at Stanford when the cops showed up to bust the party. She spends the rest of the night and the remainder of camp focused on hearing the raspy sound of Alex’s laugh as much as possible.

If she pulls even more ridiculous stunts and tells even more cringey dad jokes, especially when Alex is present, it is definitely _ not _ related. It isn’t.

She tries to ignore the flicker of _ something _ in her chest that seems to catch and flare unbidden every time Alex smiles in her direction, her brilliant blue eyes crinkling at the corners and her nose scrunching up in a way that Kelley unexpectedly thinks is kinda cute.

At the end of camp she reminds herself that Alex Morgan is very straight, very much out of her league, and is definitely never going to be interested in her _ like that_.

But that doesn’t stop her from texting Alex between camps, and it’s really nice to have someone to talk to who gets her life - gets _ her _ \- without her having to explain anything. 

So no, she doesn’t remember the exact moment when it all started, when what she thought was just a passing crush turned into something more. It was a gradual build up over years of knowing each other - years of missed signals and poor timing, years of being too afraid to voice hidden feelings out loud, years of dangerously toeing a line that neither of them had the courage to cross, years of wanting but not having, years of being in love with her best friend and desperately trying (and miserably failing) to pretend that she wasn’t.

* * *

  


They're roommates again several camps later and this time it's different. This time they have inside jokes and stories to tell each other and their discussions get deeper, digging beyond the surface of learning the basics about one another. She's still a goof though, and a lot of the time they end up laughing until their sides hurt at the dumb shit she coerces Alex into doing with her.

The best thing though is when she gets Tobin or Sydney to help her prank Alex. That's her favorite because Alex falls for it _ every. single. time. _ and her reactions are always priceless. A tiny part of her feels bad, but a much larger part of her enjoys how worked up Alex gets and how she always swears she'll get Kelley back but never does.

Alex tries, bless her heart, but pranking just isn't in her nature. It doesn't come naturally to her the way it does to Kelley. Probably because she hates surprises. Which is another reason why Kelley should probably ease up on her, but it's just too much fun.

This particular camp she's taken to hiding behind doors and around corners and other objects whenever she knows Alex is approaching, then timing a perfect leap and shout to scare her. The first time she does it is probably the best because Alex isn't expecting it at all and she shrieks and jumps about a foot into the air when Kelley pops out of the bathroom in the semi-dark of their hotel room.

"What...the...hell...is...wrong...with...you," Alex gasps out, hand to her chest as she breathes heavily.

She doesn’t respond, too caught up in rolling around on the floor laughing her ass off and thinking about how the rest of the team is gonna love the video she snuck of the whole thing on her phone. 

Alex scowls down at her and there's a brief moment where she thinks Alex might actually be pissed so she puts on her most endearing puppy dog face. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she hurries out and holds up her hands in defense from her prone position on the floor. "I won't do it again." (That's definitely a lie, but she'll deal with the consequences of it the next time she catches Alex unawares).

Alex's eyes narrow in skepticism and she wonders how many times she’s been on the receiving end of that look already this early on in their friendship. She wonders why Alex puts up with her.

“I don’t believe you,” Alex says, but she sticks her hand out anyways to help her up off the floor.

She hops up and gives Alex a sheepish grin, thinking she’s in the clear, but then her phone falls out of her sweatpants pocket and lands face up, the video she oh-so-sneakily recorded incriminatingly displayed on the screen. There’s a moment where they both freeze, look at the phone on the floor, and then look back up at each other.

Alex moves first but her reaction reflexes kick in and she somehow manages to box Alex out and snatch her phone up from the floor. Alex lunges for her as she darts away, and now it's escalated into a full blown chase around their not-so big hotel room. She has to hop over a suitcase and spin around a chair before she leaps onto one bed and then dives onto the other.

Out of nowhere Alex tackles her mid-air and they land on the bed with a hard bounce. There’s a brief tussle as she tries to worm away from Alex, but Alex has just enough of a size advantage over her that she’s able to wrangle Kelley down and pin her arms above her head.

“Gotcha!” Alex crows triumphantly.

There’s a lot of body contact happening right now and for the briefest of moments she thinks of kissing the smug grin off of Alex’s face. Just to distract her of course. Not because she’s thought about kissing Alex ever. And not because she’s curious what Alex’s lips would feel like against her own or what it would be like to taste her chapstick.

Nope. She’s never thought about any of that at all.

Instead she keeps an iron-vise grip on her phone so that Alex can't get it and watches in self-satisfied amusement as Alex puzzles out her next move. She may have Kelley pinned to the bed, but if she releases her to try to pry the phone from her hand Kelley will definitely worm free and dash for the door. If she doesn't release Kelley then they're stuck in a stalemate until one of them gives in. 

And that could honestly take hours; they're both too stubborn and overly competitive for their own good. Truthfully she wouldn't object to being stuck under Alex for an extended period of time, but the thought also terrifies her a little bit. She doesn't know if she has the willpower to survive something like that without it becoming obvious to Alex that she has a small amount of totally manageable, not at all problematic, more-than-friends feelings for her.

She continues to grin up at Alex like the Cheshire cat as Alex's frustration grows by the minute.

"You gonna do something, Al?" she teases provokingly. "Or are we staying like this all night?"

Alex glares at her but doesn't answer. She keeps going, knowing exactly how to push Alex's buttons.

"Cuz that's fine with me,” she shrugs. “I don't need sleep. I can lie awake here until tomorrow morning and I still won't give up my phone. _ You _ on the other hand, _ Alexandra_, require lots of beauty sleep otherwise you're _ very _ cranky at practice and _ nobody _ likes that."

She’s walking a very fine line with that statement, and when Alex’s eyes flash with anger she wonders if she’s gone a step too far. Alex retaliates by pressing her hips further down into Kelley’s and there’s the briefest of moments where she swears Alex’s eyes darken with something far more dangerous than anger or annoyance, but it vanishes too quickly for her to tell for certain.

They’re faces are even closer now and Alex hasn’t pulled back yet and her body is still very much pressed against Kelley’s in ways that are are starting to become detrimental to her self-control and the grasp she has on this whole situation. She’s really regretting this because now she can see the startling blues of Alex’s eyes with extreme clarity and the exact shape of Alex’s mouth and can smell Alex’s coconut shampoo and light floral perfume and she needs to end this before she does something incredibly stupid like try to kiss her teammate and best friend.

“If you wanted to get me into bed all you had to do was ask,” she jokes with a wiggle of her eyebrows and hopefully enough of a teasing tone in her voice that the underlying truth to her words is lost on Alex.

A blush blooms across Alex’s cheeks and her eyes widen a fraction before an annoyed scowl returns to her face. It’s not the reaction Kelley was expecting and she’s not quite sure how to interpret it. This entire evening has been too much for what was supposed to be a simple prank.

“You’re an idiot,” Alex huffs, but there’s no real edge to it as she finally releases Kelley and rolls off of her to flop down beside her on the bed.

They lie there in silence next to each other, arms by their sides but not touching, and the quiet moment stretches out between them until she breaks it.

“Hey, Al?”

Alex turns to face her.

“Yeah?”

“I’ll delete the video.”

Alex shakes her head.

“You don’t have to do that.”

  
  
“Yeah, I do.”

“How about just promise you won’t send it to the team?” Alex asks.

She considers for a moment then smiles.

“Okay.”

  
  
She holds her hand up between them, her pinkie sticking up in the air. Alex gives her a confused look and doesn’t catch on to what she’s doing.

“It’s a pinkie promise, dummy,” she explains, brandishing her pinkie in Alex’s direction. “I’m making you a promise.”

“Oh,” Alex replies, blushing just the tiniest bit. “Okay.”

She raises her hand to Kelley’s and extends her own pinkie. Kelley curls her finger around Alex’s and Alex follows suit. They stare at each other and what was supposed to be something funny and light has suddenly taken on an unexpected weight and she’s not sure what exactly it is they’re promising one another now.

“And then we shake,” she says quietly. 

Alex’s face is serious and focused, a lot like how she looks in practice when they're in the middle of a tough drill. It brings a smile to her lips as they move their hands up and down in a synchronized motion.

“There,” she says when they finish and slowly pull their hands away. “Now it’s a proper promise. Can’t break it.”

“I trust you,” Alex says, looking her right in the eye, and that feels more important than any pinkie promise ever could.

* * *

  


They’re in London for the Olympics and she wipes out spectacularly, falling flat on her back in the damp grass, a toy broomstick between her feet. The wind gets knocked out of her and she hears heckling and laughter from her teammates through her reddening ears.

She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment while she catches her breath and when she opens them Alex hovers above her, her body blocking the grey sky and casting her in partial shadow. There’s a quirk in Alex’s lips that she clearly can’t contain, a twinkle of mirth in her eyes that breaks through the soft concern that’s more predominantly present on her face.

“You’re an idiot,” Alex says through her fond, lopsided grin. It’s a smile that does something weird and fluttery to her heart every time she sees it.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” she grunts out in response.

Alex sticks a hand out, perfectly manicured nails catching her eye as Alex wiggles her fingers at her. Everyone else is shouting at her to hurry up so she shakes her head clear and accepts Alex’s outstretched offering of help. Alex’s grip is firm and warm as she tugs her up first into a sitting position and then back up onto her feet.

She brushes herself off and retrieves the broomstick from the grass. She can feel Alex’s eyes on her the whole time, sees Alex’s hands twitch at her sides likes she wants to reach out to touch her.

“You good, klutz?” Alex asks, shoving her hands into her pockets and not even trying to hide her amused smirk anymore.

She scowls and knocks Alex with her shoulder. The taller girl stands her ground and waits for an answer.

“I’m still gonna beat your ass at this game, Morgan,” she replies and sticks out her tongue before she trots away to rejoin the rest of the team.

Alex shakes her head and follows after her, a determined look in her eyes that would intimidate lesser people but only serves to make Kelley even more focused on winning.

An hour later she still feels the ghost of Alex’s hand around hers after they’ve finished several overly competitive rounds of the broomstick race (of which she wins two and Alex wins three) and are back on the bus. It’s a pleasant tingling that she doesn’t want to fade.

She and Alex are inseparable for the entirety of their time in England, exploring the city and the towns they play in together, sharing a room, sometimes sharing a bed when they're both too tired to move after a match, and it's probably the most fun she's ever had. Winning a gold medal at the end of it all doesn't hurt either, but whenever she looks back on that time it's Alex that stands out the most.

Alex tugging her down some narrow, winding street, their hands twined together as they laugh and stumble across the cobblestones and into a tiny little tea shop.

Alex snuggling into her as they watch an episode of The Bachelor after training and then falling asleep with her arm draped loosely across Kelley’s waist.

Alex scoring a goal so monumental and iconic against Canada in the semi-final that she can’t help but press her lips to her neck when they embrace on the field after and say ‘I love you.’

Alex smiling so big and wide and free, happy tears streaking down her cheeks when they win gold, the medals heavy around their necks, clanking together as they hug and celebrate and revel in their victory.

Alex on the flight back home asking if she wants to come out to LA and stay with her for awhile, her voice confident but her eyes just the tiniest bit shy across the empty middle seat between them, and how could Kelley ever say no.

* * *

  


They’re living together in California and it’s the best three months of her life. They surf and paddle board and ride bikes and do yoga and sometimes she cooks dinner or teaches Alex how to make epic salads and there’s no pressure or commitments or training and they can just _ be _ for a little while.

Winning gold at the Olympics still feels like some surreal, crazy dream, like it happened to somebody else and not to her. But there’s a medal on the dresser in her bedroom in the beach side bungalow they’ve rented that proves otherwise, and Alex gets recognized a lot more when they go out, and she's even got some sponsors of her own now, and this is everything they’ve both worked so hard for and wanted since the first time they laced up a pair of cleats.

Living with Alex is easy and they quickly fall into a routine. It gets to the point where they don’t even have to speak to each other in the mornings; they’re so in sync that they just flow around one another seamlessly as they throw breakfast together and get ready to hit the beach. Of course they annoy each other some days, it’s inevitable (especially if Alex uses the last bowl and hasn’t done dishes and then she can’t make her epic salads). But overall it's pretty much perfect.

Which is why when the final week of their time together comes around there’s a sense of melancholy that falls over her no matter how hard she tries to shake it. She puts off packing for as long as possible until Alex basically does it for her, adamant that Kelley not wait until the last minute like she always does. Alex seems fine with everything, talking excitedly about the new league that’s just been announced and their upcoming friendlies with Ireland.

If Alex notices anything off about her behavior she doesn’t bring it up, and Kelley’s secretly grateful because she doesn’t know what she’d say if Alex asked. She knows that she’ll get to see Alex more than once in the final months of the year, and then they’ll be back at the Algarve before they know it, but it won’t be the same. 

She won’t get to start her day by handing a grumbling Alex a mug of coffee and watching in amusement as she breathes in the aroma and her eyes come to life.

She won’t get to laugh until she cries as Alex tries to surf for the umpteenth time and ends up splashing head first into the ocean yet again. 

She won’t get to spend her days adventuring up and down the California coast, Alex by her side pointing out farmers’ markets for them to wander through and cozy beach side diners for them to stop at when they get hungry or are in desperate need of coffee.

She won’t get to stay suspended in time in the protective little bubble they’ve built for themselves and their friends over the last three months, shielded from the larger world and the responsibilities and expectations it entails for all of them.

But maybe it’s a good thing because her handle on the whole catching-feelings-for-her-best-friend situation is really slipping and some space might be good for her so she can get over whatever this is and get her shit together. 

They spend one final day at the beach before she has to catch her flight back to Georgia and reality the following morning. She finally gets to witness Alex actually ride a wave all the way in without falling off of her board, Alex’s smile radiant as she floats toward where Kelley stands in the shallows. There’s a proud grin plastered on her own face as she tugs her best friend off of her surfboard and into an excited hug, Alex’s wet suit sticking to her skin. An unexpected wave crashes over them as they celebrate and they fall spluttering into the surf, clinging to each other as they laugh.

After a couple of hours at the beach they hit up their favorite local spots on their own personal farewell tour. Tobin joins them for lunch and she wonders if the three of them will ever be together like this again. Life is about to change drastically for all of them with the new league and their newfound, growing fame and she wants to hold onto this moment for as long as she can. 

She wants to remember her friends like this: Alex’s head tossed back in a raspy laugh at some story Tobin’s just told, Tobin’s sly smile from beneath the brim of her snapback, the two of them fighting over the last tortilla chip while she looks on with an exasperated smile and refuses to take sides. 

That night she and Alex cook dinner together - veggie lasagna upon Alex’s insistence (it’s Kelley’s favorite) - and they splurge on a nice bottle of red wine. Alex lights a candle to join the fairy lights they strung up on the bungalow’s back deck when they first moved in and the whole thing feels far too much like a date even though she knows it’s not. She’s sure Alex doesn’t see it that way - she’s just trying to do something nice for her last night in California - but it’s definitely not helping with her internal conflict over her feelings for her best friend.

“Is everything alright?” Alex asks as they eat in comfortable silence. They’ve both been relatively quiet since they sat down and Alex poured them both a second glass of wine (their first ones having been consumed while cooking), but apparently she’s been too quiet and now Alex has caught on.

Her head snaps up and she meets Alex’s concerned eyes across the table. 

“Yeah, fine and dandy,” she replies quickly, wincing inwardly at how ridiculously untrue the words sound.

“Are you sure?” Alex questions. “Because you’ve seemed kinda...I dunno, reserved I guess, these last couple of days and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the league and all the unknowns still or if I’d done something wrong or-”

  
  
“No, no, you didn’t do anything,” she interrupts. “I promise I really am fine. Everything’s good.”

  
  
It sounds more convincing than the first time, but Alex still doesn’t appear to be buying it.

“You don’t have to lie to me, Kelley,” Alex says quietly after a long moment where she stares at Kelley so intensely she swears that Alex can see right into her soul. There’s a tinge of hurt in her voice that Kelley isn’t expecting and a knot of guilt forms in the pit of her stomach. “I’m your - you’re my - we’re best friends. And you can tell me anything. I hope you know that.”

“Of course I know that, Al,” she reassures. “I didn’t mean to like, withdraw, or whatever, this past week. I guess it just kinda hit me that this all was coming to an end and I’m really gonna miss it.”  


Alex’s face softens at her confession and she grabs Kelley’s hand from across the table.

“I’m gonna miss it, too, Worms,” Alex affirms and gives her hand a light squeeze. She doesn’t pull away after and Kelley doesn’t let go.

“Everything’s changing, you know?” she adds, eyes dropping to their joined hands. “It’s all happening so fast and sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Who knows where we’ll be next year, or what we’ll be doing.”  


“_This_,” Alex states with certainty, gesturing between them with her free hand, “is _ never _ going to change. Okay? You’re stuck with me - roomies for life.”

She nods in agreement but deep down she wishes she had the same resolute confidence as Alex. Neither of them knows what the future holds; they both have seen how quickly it can all be taken away. Life happens and one day they’ll both have to move on from soccer - and possibly each other. She hopes the latter never occurs, but who’s to say where life will take them.  


Alex gives her hand another reassuring squeeze and this time she pulls away. If this were a different time and a different place and they were different people, she’d reach back across the table and reclaim Alex’s hand in her own. But this isn’t some alternate universe where she can do that without potentially ruining the most important relationship in her life.

  
“You know what I’m _ not _ going to miss?” she says when they’ve both turned their attention back to their food and she’s mostly managed to shove aside her hopeless longing for what she can’t have.

“What?” Alex apprehensively responds, her eyes narrowed.

“Those long ass showers you take that use up all the hot water,” she replies with a cheeky grin.

Alex gasps in semi-feigned shock and tries to protest.  


“I don’t know what you’re -”  


“And how long it takes you to get ready when we go out.”  


“Excuse me. There’s _ no way _ I take longer than -”  


“And the _ snoring_, oh my god, it’s like someone’s running a chainsaw in here every night.”

“I do _ not _ snore,” Alex insists, punctuating her words with aggressive stabbings of her fork in Kelley’s general direction.  


“Sure ya don’t, Al. I’ve only got several recordings on my phone that prove otherwise.”  


“You took _ videos _ of me while I was _ asleep_?”

“How else am I supposed to embarrass you at the next camp?” she retorts and sticks out her tongue for good measure. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” Alex challenges.

She quirks an eyebrow at Alex as a riposte and leaves her threat hanging between them. Alex’s eyes narrow further in skepticism and doubt as she tries to read Kelley and call her bluff. Neither of them backs down from the raised eyebrow staring contest they now find themselves in and it lasts for a full minute until she finally caves.

“No,” she admits. “I probably wouldn’t. But there’s always a chance that I _ could _, and that will drive you crazier than if I actually do it.”

“I hate you,” Alex scowls.

“I know you don’t mean that, Al,” she smiles endearingly at her best friend. “You’d never say such hurtful words on my last night here. It’s kinda cute actually,” she teases, circling back to the snoring. “Your whole body does this ridiculously deep inhale while your moth’s wide open and then -”

“Stop,” Alex blushes in embarrassment. “You’re an idiot,” she adds, with a sigh and a shake of her head. 

She grins and stuffs a forkful of lasagna into her mouth. A long string of cheese dangles down her chin and she tries to get it with her tongue but fails spectacularly. Alex rolls her eyes at her in exasperation and reaches across the table to wipe it away with her napkin.

“Thanks, pal,” she says through her mouthful of food and gets a disgusted look and a second eye roll from Alex in response.

She tries not to think about how it felt when Alex’s fingers brushed across her chin and takes a large swallow of wine. It doesn’t help.

They finish their dinner and leave the dishes and pans to soak in the sink while they move to the back porch to finish off the bottle of wine. It’s a clear night and she leans back on her deckchair to look up at the stars. To her left Alex does the same and she can’t help but glance over at her to see how the fairy lights cast her in a soft glow. 

She’s not sure if it’s the wine thrumming through her veins or the shimmer of the lights or the twinkling stars above them or just the mere existence of the person sitting next to her that makes her say it, but she can’t stop herself when the words come out.

“This was the best three months of my life I think,” she whispers into the darkness of the cool beach night.

Alex turns and a smile spreads across her face, slow and soft and just for Kelley. 

“Me too.”

Maybe its the wine and the lights and the stars or something else entirely that makes Alex agree, she’ll never know why, but in that moment it doesn’t matter. She feels weightless and free, on the precipice of the unknown and ready to jump feet first. With Alex by her side she can do anything.

* * *

  


They’re on opposite sides of the country now, playing for different club teams and chatting whenever they can. Alex FaceTimes her on a Wednesday evening while she’s in the middle of making dinner. She fumbles for her phone with one hand while she lowers the heat under the pot of soup simmering on the stove top.

She stabs at her phone with her thumb until she finally hits the “Accept” button but knocks her phone back in the process so it’s temporarily out of reach and facing up at her kitchen ceiling.

“Kel?” she hears Alex’s voice crackle through the speakers of her phone.

“Al! Hey!” she shouts back.

“Where are you?” Alex chuckles, a tinge of concern in her voice.

She wipes her hand on a dish towel and grabs for her phone.  


“Right here, one sec.”  


The phone slips through her hand and falls in slow motion toward the floor.

“Shit!” she exclaims and lunges for it, snagging it just before it hits the tile.

“I can call back if this is a bad time…” she hears Alex trail off.

“No! No - I’m good,” she says back as she finally rights the phone and holds it up to her face.

She’s rewarded with Alex’s perplexed and amused expression on her screen, only slightly pixelated but not so much so that she can’t see the vibrant blues of Alex’s eyes.

“Hey! Hi! What’s crackin’?” she chirps as she grins into the phone at her best friend.

“What are you doing right now?” Alex asks, ignoring her question.

“Making dinner - it’s 7pm on this side of the country in case you forgot.”  


“You only remind me of the time difference every single time I call,” Alex replies, eyes rolling.

“Yeah, well, you went to Cal so...”

Alex narrows her eyes at her and across the thousands of miles and bytes of data transmitting the image of Alex to her tiny phone screen that look still manages to fill her with warm familiarity and it’s almost like Alex is right here in the kitchen with her, teasing her and distracting her while she cooks, just like it was after London when they lived together.

“What are you making?” Alex asks.

Kelley turns her attention to the stove for a moment and gives her soup a quick stir with a wooden spoon.

“Vegetable soup - wanna see?”  


She doesn’t wait for Alex’s answer and holds her phone over the stove so that Alex can get a good view.

“Looks great, Kel. I’m jealous. We’re probably just gonna order out again tonight.”

“We?” she asks and looks back at her screen. Alex is sprawled across her couch in the living room of her apartment, practice gear still on and her hair pulled back loosely, stray flyaways escaping without her pink pre-wrap in place.

Alex shifts so that she’s on her side, face propped up with one hand.

“Me and Serv,” Alex elaborates. “Technically it’s date night, but we both had practice today so I think it’s just gonna be Netflix and takeout.”  


“It’s Netflix and _ chill_, Al. That’s what all the cool kids are doing these days.”  


Alex rolls her eyes.

“Fine. Netflix and chill,” she parrots back.

“Ew, I don’t wanna hear about _ that_,” she retorts, scrunching her face up in mock disgust.

“Jesus, Kel, you know that’s not what I meant,” Alex defends, her cheeks just slightly pinking. “You’re the one that told me to say it!”  


“Well I thought you knew it was a euphemism!”

“Big word there, Stanford,” Alex teases, shifting the topic rapidly.

“Whatever - I need to add some stuff to my soup real quick. I’m gonna put you down for a sec.”  


She maneuvers her phone and props it up on the counter so she can see Alex and Alex can see her.

“Have I ever made this for you before?” she asks Alex while she gathers up her remaining ingredients.

“No, and I’m kinda mad about it.”

“Well, I’ll teach you this part and we can make it together for real some time.”  


“Promise?” Alex asks, her voice suddenly quiet and small.

Alex’s tone pulls her attention from her task. She looks up from her cutting board to look Alex in the eyes as best as she can through a video chat stream.

“Promise,” she nods, grinning and holding out her pinkie at the phone.  


“Kel…” Alex whines.

“C’mon, Al, you gotta do it or it doesn’t count.”  


Alex gives her a raised eyebrow but doesn’t move.

“Pleeeeease?” she pouts and wiggles her finger at the screen.

She knows the moment she’s won when Alex’s shoulders relax and then she lets out a sigh.

“Fine,” Alex agrees, and rearranges herself so she’s sitting up on her couch and can properly reciprocate Kelley’s request.

Alex holds her own pinkie up to the screen and Kelley takes the lead.

“Okay - three, two, one -” she counts down, and then they both curl their pinkies and move their hands up and down in a one-sided handshake.

“_Now _ it’s a proper pinkie promise,” she proclaims.

Alex gives her an exasperated but fond grin.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Hey - no name-calling the person that promised to make you soup!”  


“You’re right, you’re right, I’m sorry,” Alex laughs.

Alex’s head turns to something off screen and she hears the muffled sound of a door.

“Sorry, Kel, I gotta go,” Alex says, holding the phone up to her face. “Serv’s home.”

She swallows down the unexpected disappointment she feels and something else she doesn’t want to address - a pang that feels a lot like jealousy and a little like unrequited love.

“Yeah, yeah, no worries. I’ll catch you later. Enjoy your Netflix and chill.”

“Kel.”

  
  
“Sorry,” she grins cheekily, the pit in her stomach tightening.

“Later, Worms. Luv ya,” Alex signs off and blows her a dramatic kiss.

She mimes catching it and smacks it to her forehead.

“See ya, Janice,” she replies and then the call ends and she’s left standing there in her empty kitchen with her hand pressed to her head and the final image of Alex’s smile imprinted in her mind.

* * *

  


They’re in Rio and they lose and she doesn’t think she’s ever known disappointment and pain like this before. 

No one speaks on the bus ride back to the hotel, or in the lobby, or in the elevator, or in the hallway. Alex heads straight for the bathroom when they get back to their room. She falls back onto her bed and just stares blankly at the ceiling, replaying the game in her head and thinking about all the things she could have done differently. She hears the shower turn on even though she’s pretty sure they both showered back in the stadium locker room.

When Alex emerges from the bathroom twenty minutes later her eyes are red but her hair is dry and she doesn’t question her on it. She returns her attention to the ceiling, her jaw clenched and her throat tight. Out of the corner of her eye she senses Alex come to a stop between their beds and hesitate. She doesn’t move or turn to look at her or ask her what she’s doing. She stays still on the bed, arms crossed beneath her head. Her chest feels so heavy and she’s not sure if the room is spinning or it’s just the unshed tears blurring her vision.

After a moment that could be ten seconds or five minutes, she feels the bed sink next to her as Alex makes a choice and then she has an armful of Alex tucked next to her. Alex curls around her slowly and carefully, her body tense. She pulls one arm from behind her head and drapes it around Alex, her hand settling on Alex’s hip. They lie there in silence and then Alex sighs and relaxes into her.

Not long after that she feels Alex’s hot tears on her neck and dampening her shirt. Her own tears leak from her eyes and trail down the side of her face onto the hotel bed comforter. She drops her hand to Alex’s back and rubs wide, slow circles across the soft cotton of the Cal t-shirt Alex often wears to bed when they’re on the road. Alex sniffles and tightens her grip around her body, one of her hands fisting Kelley’s shirt. 

She closes her eyes and bends her face to the top of Alex’s head, the faint scent of coconut filling her nostrils and calming her. She presses a kiss to the spot where her lips are buried in Alex's hair without thinking, like it's something she's done a hundred times before.

“We’ll be okay,” she whispers, voice hoarse and harsh in the stillness of the room.

Alex doesn’t answer, but she wasn’t expecting her to. She continues to cling to Kelley while her tears gradually subside. Eventually Alex’s breathing evens out and she falls asleep, head on Kelley’s chest, arms wrapped around Kelley’s waist.

Sleep doesn’t come as quickly for her. She trails delicate fingers through Alex’s hair and stares mindlessly up at the ceiling for another hour until physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion finally drag her down into slumber, Alex’s body a comforting weight on her chest.

The next morning she wakes up on her side, eyes and throat scratchy from tears both shed and unshed last night. There’s a warm body at her back and a familiar arm still wrapped around her. Apparently they shifted positions in the night and now Alex is big-spooning her. They fell asleep on top of the comforter with half of the lights still on in their room that she now has to squint her eyes against.

Alex’s slow, light breaths ghost across the back of her neck and tell her that the striker is still asleep. She shifts carefully to relieve the numbness in the arm she slept on and then falls still. She doesn’t want to get up just yet, doesn’t want to face the day or her teammates or anyone other than Alex really. 

The woman in question stirs behind her and makes the various huffing and grunting noises she’s learned to associate with Alex’s grumbling and reluctant morning wake up routine. Alex hates mornings, and Kelley suspects she’ll hate this particular one a little extra.

She extricates herself from Alex’s arms and rolls over to face her friend. Alex’s eyes are squeezed tight, her nose scrunched up in defiance at the thought of waking up. A half-smile forms on her face as she watches Alex gradually join the waking world.

Finally, Alex blinks her eyes open, tempered blue meeting tired hazel. There’s a brief moment where Alex sees her and gives her a lazy smile, her eyes brightening a fraction, but then she takes in the rest of their surroundings and the sadness Kelley knows she hasn’t successfully banished from her own face, and Alex’s eyes darken.

“Hey, Al,” she says quietly into the space between them.

Alex swallows but doesn’t respond.

“You okay?” she asks.

“Not really,” Alex answers, voice rough and raw. They’re the first words she’s spoken since before they got back to the hotel.

Alex’s brutal honesty hits her square in the chest and she searches desperately for a way to bring the lightness back to her best friend’s eyes. 

“Me too,” she confesses. “I don’t really want to go out..._ there_,” she gestures vaguely in the air towards the door. “Do you think they’ll notice if we just stay locked in here all day?”

“We have to leave eventually,” Alex says back dejectedly, like it’s the last thing on earth she wants to do.

“Well,” she starts, an idea forming in her mind. “We _ could _ change our names to Worms and Janice and flee the country undercover, never go back. I’ve always wanted to go to Bali or Australia or Thailand. I’ll be a surf instructor and you can…”

  
  
Alex waits, eyebrow cocked and a look in her eyes that dares her to say something stupid.

She racks her brain and then it comes to her.

“You can teach English at the local school and coach their soccer team. Or be a full-time beach model.”

“Excuse me?” Alex says, eyes narrowing.

“You’ve done Sports Illustrated a couple times, you’re basically a pro. Plus I’ll need to do advertising for my surf school - you can be the poster woman.”

“Oh, so you’re running your own surf _ school _ in Bali now? And you’re going to use _ me _ to get clients?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Alex rolls her eyes and shakes her head, the tiniest of smiles forming at the corner of her mouth.

“You’re an idiot.”

“You can help me run the surf school,” she amends. “We’ll open a shop, too, sell boards and stuff. Maybe just go full blown and turn it into a tiki bar while we’re at it.”

Alex laughs quietly. 

“You do love Hawaiian shirts.”

“And drinks with little umbrellas in them.”

“Yeah, those too.”

Alex props herself up on one elbow and looks down at her, eyes less sad than they were when they first woke up.

“Tell me more about our surf-school-gear-shop-tiki-bar.”

“Okay,” she agrees and smiles up at her best friend.

She launches into an animated description of what it will look like and what they’ll call it and the gear they’ll sell and the drinks they’ll have on the menu and Alex nods along, adding her own suggestions when she can get a word in, and for a little while she manages to forget about the loss and the reason why they’re holed up in this hotel room in Brazil imagining an alternate life for themselves where it’s just the two of them on a beach in Bali and they’re happy.

* * *

  


They’re on their first real date and she’s so nervous she almost trips over her own feet while they walk to her car. She insisted on picking Alex up herself, but she’s now regretting that choice with the way her whole body has becoming a fidgeting, clumsy mess.

Alex puts a calming hand on her shoulder when she fumbles with the passenger side door three times and still can’t get it open.

“Kelley,” Alex says gently.

“Yeah?” she answers but doesn’t turn around, cheeks red with embarrassment at her sudden inability to be smooth and confident and not an incompetent doofus.

“Kel,” Alex tries again, more demanding. “Look at me.”

She sighs and relents, turning around slowly to face Alex.

Alex takes her shaking hands into her steady, warm ones and squeezes.

“Take a deep breath,” Alex instructs.

She rolls her eyes at first but Alex is serious so she complies and inhales loudly then lets out an exaggerated exhale.

“I’m nervous, too,” Alex confesses with a little shrug.

“I’m not -” she starts to protest, but Alex cocks her eyebrow at her knowingly and she changes tacks. She knows when she’s been called out (Alex has always been exceptionally good at it and is one of the select few who isn’t afraid to do it to her).

“Okay,” she admits. “Fine. Maybe I _ am _ nervous. But it’s not my fault you’re ridiculously gorgeous and an international superstar and could get a date with anyone you wanted to probably, but for some crazy, insane, unknown reason you’re going out with _ me _ and I’m still not entirely sure why and I really, really, _ really _ don’t want to mess this up. Cuz you’re my - you’re _ you_, Alex. And I like you. A lot.”  
  
Alex lets her ramble, a fond smile on her face that softens when she finishes and looks down at her feet.

“You won’t mess it up,” Alex states, and she looks back up at the ridiculously gorgeous woman standing before her in the pre-dusk glow of the balmy California evening.

“I kinda think I already have.”

“Oh, you mean the part where you said I could _ probably _ get a date with anyone I wanted, or the part where you said I was crazy?” Alex teases.

She tugs her hands free, buries her face in them and groans.

“Why don’t we start over?” Alex suggests, chuckling lightly.

She peers through her fingers at Alex, a question in her eyes.

“Like, just erase the last five minutes and agree to never speak of them again?”

“Well, until I have to tell our grandkids the story of our first date.”

  
  
Her eyes widen and Alex’s face is dead serious for a moment before the corner of her mouth twitches upward in the betraying beginnings of a smile.

She exhales in relief and drops her hands to her sides.

“If that was your way of calming me down you are a seriously twisted and evil person, Alexandra.”

“It worked though,” Alex smiles smugly, and she hates that Alex is right. 

“Whatever,” she mutters and Alex laughs, the loud, raspy kind that’s always been her favorite.

“Are you gonna take me out or what, O’Hara?” Alex asks when she stops laughing, hands on her hips in a challenge that Kelley is sure as hell not going to back down from.

“Oh, we’re going out alright, _ Morgan_. Prepare to be wooed like you’ve never been wooed before,” she proclaims confidently as she pulls open the passenger side door in one fluid motion, cocky grin on her lips as she tosses Alex a wink.

She almost misses the ‘You’re an idiot’ that Alex mutters fondly under her breath as she rolls her eyes and slides into the car, the hint of a blush on her cheeks, and yeah, this is gonna be a good night. Possibly the best night. She winks at Alex once more for good measure when she closes the door then jogs around to the other side of the car and gets in.

“I _ can _ open my own car door you know, for next time,” Alex informs her while she starts the car and reverses out of her parking spot.

  
  
“Yeah, well, chivalry isn’t dead, Morgan. And next time _ you’re _ driving.”

“Okay,” Alex agrees. There’s no hesitation when she says it, just a happy twinkle that lights up her eyes and somehow makes them even more blue. Here they are already discussing their second date when they haven’t even been on their first for five minutes (excluding the _ actual _ first five minutes of which they will never mention, ever). It’s exhilarating and exciting and terrifying and comforting all at the same time.

“For the record,” Alex starts once they’ve pulled out of the parking lot and are finally on their way. She reaches for Kelley’s right hand where it rests on her thigh as she drives and slots their fingers together like it’s the most natural thing in the world to do. “I like you a lot, too.”

Kelley knows right then and there that this is going to be something beautiful and wonderful, and she really, really hopes that this is the last first date she ever goes on. She’ll even consider telling their hypothetical grandkids about it one day.

* * *

  


They're playing a friendly against Canada when she goes down hard, head knocked with another player's in a full body collision and then she hits the not-so-soft surface of the pitch. There's a collective gasp from the crowd followed by a rush of silence but she doesn't register any of it because she blacks out, face down in the grass, body limp.

She doesn't see Alex sprint for her from the other end of the field, doesn't see her teammates gather nearby and take a knee, doesn't see the medics rush toward her or her coach follow not far behind them.

She doesn't feel Alex's hands on her back when her girlfriend falls to the ground by her side, panting and frantic. She doesn't hear Alex saying her name over and over again, pleading for her to answer, worried hands hovering over her body, afraid to move her, afraid to hurt her.

It's not until a very long minute after the medical team is there that consciousness comes rushing back to her, sudden and disorienting. There's a ringing in her ears and grass in her mouth and when she tries to open her eyes it hurts so much she moans.

"-el, Kelley, babe," she hears through the ringing and buzzing and pain. Her fuzzy brain searches for the owner of the voice and the name slowly comes to her.

"Lex," she grunts out, the word muffled by the ground.

Something squeezes what she thinks is her hand and she tries to squeeze back but doesn't know if she actually succeeds.

"Thank god,” the same voice exhales quietly. Then more loudly into her ear - “_ Kel_. Baby, can you hear me?"

She grunts out a noise in response, tongue thick in her mouth. She's afraid if she opens her mouth any further to speak she might puke.

"They need to check you out, Kel. They're gonna try to roll you over, okay?"

She squeezes her eyes shut at the thought of moving.

"Can't," she groans. "Hurts."

"I know, baby, I know it does. But they need to get you off the field and to the hospital."

The stray thought crosses her mind that Alex almost never calls her ‘baby,’ and certainly not in front of other people. Another voice joins Alex's and after several hazy moments she recognizes it as belonging to one of their trainers.

"Kelley, I need you to answer a couple of questions for me and then we'll try moving you."

She doesn't acknowledge them, just breathes in and out through her nose, the scent of grass and dirt filling her nostrils and temporarily tamping down the nausea.

“Can you wiggle your fingers for me?” the trainer asks.

It takes her a moment to find the strength, but she does it.

“Good, that’s good Kelley. Now how about your feet? Can you feel your feet?”

“Yeah,” she answers, wiggling her toes in her boots even though no one can see them. There are hands on her that shift her slightly and extend first one leg and then the other.

“Great - you’re doing well, Kelley.”

This goes on for several more minutes until the trainer is satisfied that she doesn’t have a life-threatening injury or something seriously wrong with her spine or neck.

When they do finally, very carefully, turn her onto her back, she almost cries when the harsh stadium lights hit her face. Alex is by her side the whole time, gripping her hand as they treat and assess her.

"Fuck," she moans, and lifts a hand to cover her face. The motion is jerky and slow and takes more out of her than it should.

"The lights," Alex says to one of the trainers. "We need to get her out of here."

Alex's voice is tense and short and she feels bad for whoever is on the receiving end of her glare right now.

"We're trying, Alex. The stretcher's right there but we need to get a neck brace on her, precautionarily."

"Then do it," she hears Alex grit out. 

"Lex," she croaks.

A shadow immediately falls over her and Alex's hand grips her shoulder.

"What is it, Kel?"

She fights through the pain and returning nausea and squints her eyes open just enough so she can see Alex. It's hard to focus and everything feels disjointed, but she manages to latch onto the blues of Alex's eyes among the blurred chaos.

"Lex," she says again. “Got somethin’ important to tell you.”

“What, Kel? Are you alright?” Alex asks anxiously.

She blinks a couple of times and loses focus of Alex for a moment then finds her again, her train of thought derailed.

“ ‘m fine, ‘m great. Head feels kinda wobbly. But I’m good.”

  
  
“Yeah, you got knocked pretty hard in the noggin, that’s why they’ve got a stretcher for you.”

“A stretcher,” she sighs and closes her eyes. “That’s nice.”

Alex chuckles softly and runs her hand so, so gently through her hair. She really wants to kiss Alex right now, she thinks. But some part of her brain is still functioning enough to tell her that’s probably not a good idea at the moment.

Her eyes snap open and then squeeze halfway shut. She tries to sit up but several pairs of hands hold her down.

“Easy, easy,” Alex soothes.

“Lex,” she starts again. “I still gotta tell you somethin’. Before they put me on the stretcher.”

“Okay,” Alex answers patiently while the trainers wait to lift her. “What do you need to tell me?”

She blinks and then grins big and wide up at her girlfriend who looks like she’s been crying, or is about to cry, it’s hard for her to tell. That makes her sad for a moment but then she remembers what she has to say and she smiles again.

“You’re really pretty, Lex,” she states. “Like, the prettiest _ ever_. I dunno how I got you to date me, but, like, I’m really glad I did. I’m the luckiest.”

Alex laughs tremulously, shakes her head at her and squeezes her shoulder, fingers pressed hard and firm into her skin like she’s reassuring herself that Kelley is there and fine (or at least going to be).

“You’re an idiot,” Alex chokes out on a watery laugh.

“Yeah, but I’m _ your _ idiot,” she replies, still smiling dopily up at Alex.

“Alright, that’s enough, Squirrely. You guys can take her, please,” Alex tells the trainers.

She’ll nearly die from embarrassment when Alex tells her this part of the story in a couple of days, and she won’t be able to look any of their trainers in the eye and will get relentlessly teased by them when she rejoins the team, but right now she’s very much concussed and not thinking straight. Right now she just knows that she has a really pretty girlfriend who she really wants to kiss.

They put a neck brace on her and maneuver her onto the stretcher into the back of a waiting cart. Alex slides in next to her which she isn’t expecting and light cheering rises from the stands. She lifts a hand in a thumbs up gesture as they drive off the field and the cheering increases. The motion of the vehicle is too much for her and she closes her eyes again.

The buzzing and ringing return in full force and she grimaces as a spike of pain shoots through her temple. At her side Alex holds tight to her hand and runs her thumb across her clenched fingers.

“I’m right here,” Alex reassures her. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re gonna be okay.”

She doesn’t know if that last bit is for her benefit or Alex’s, but nevertheless she believes her. And when she’s lying awake in the middle of the night several hours later, Alex curled around her in the hospital bed that’s barely big enough for the both of them, she vows to do whatever it takes to keep the woman sleeping next to her by her side forever.

* * *

  


It’s happened so often by now that when Alex does say the actual words themselves to her out loud for the first time in a very non-platonic way, Kelley already knows - and has known - for a long time.

Without discussing it they mutually decide to have a lazy Sunday and they camp out on the couch with no intention of going anywhere for several hours. They’re both on their second bowl of cereal and third cup of coffee, legs stretched out next to each other on the coffee table that doubles as their ottoman.

Alex gets up to take her empty bowl to the sink and when she returns she sits down and tucks her legs underneath her, back straight.

“Kelley?” Alex says to her, unusually tentative, over Sports Center playing quietly in the background. She’s been cleared from concussion protocol for several weeks, but Alex still insists on limited screen time and low volume whenever she watches TV (which isn’t even all that often, but she’ll humor Alex if it finally convinces her that she really is recovered).

“Yeah?” she replies, glancing over at Alex who’s turned toward her on the couch, face unexpectedly serious. She’s concerned by the tone of Alex’s voice and waits for her to speak.

“I love you.”

“Of course you do, babe,” she answers, concern abated, and turns her attention back to the Top Ten Plays of the week.

“No, Kelley, I’m telling you that I’m _ in _ love with you,” Alex elaborates.

  
  
“Yeah, I know you are.”

Alex is not amused by her response.

“Kelley.”  


“Alex,” she retorts and grins cheekily at her.

“Why aren’t you getting this?” Alex huffs, reaching for the remote and clicking off the TV.

She shoots Alex a look and quirks an eyebrow.

“What is there to get?”

  
  
“That I’m in love with you!” Alex practically shouts and throws her hands up in the air in exasperation.

“You’ve been in love with me since, like, 2012, Al. It’s old news.”

  
  
“Oh my god, why are you like this?”

“Like what?”

  
  
“The densest person I’ve ever met! 2012 was... _ before _. And you loved me then, too, so what’s your excuse?”

  
  
“My excuse for what?”

Alex’s voice drops to something soft and small when she replies.

“Not saying it before me, and not saying it back now.”

“Oh,” she exhales, and the mood of the room drastically shifts as she finally grasps the situation. She sees the way Alex curls in on herself and slumps into the couch and her heart clenches in half-panic, half-guilt. Her brow furrows and she suddenly realizes that she’s miffed this big time. 

She needs to fix this.

She places her bowl on the coffee table and shifts so that she’s sitting cross-legged on the couch and facing Alex. She reaches out for her girlfriend and places a gentle hand on Alex’s knee.

Alex doesn’t look at her, her gaze trained down and away.

She swallows and tries to explain and hopes she hasn’t ruined things too badly.

“Well, I thought it was obvious,” she starts. “It hasn’t really been a secret how I feel about you for the last, oh, I don’t know, five years and change. We don’t have to say the words for them to be true, Al. I choose to show you every day, just like you’ve done for me - even before we acknowledged what was between us and had no idea how things would end up. We’ve always been better at actions over words.”

  
She scoots closer to Alex until her knees bump Alex’s thigh. Alex doesn’t budge but she does flick her eyes over to Kelley’s hand on her leg. She counts that as progress and keeps talking.

“Like this morning,” she goes on, the memory still fresh in her mind. Alex finally looks up at her, curiosity and confusion written across her face.

“My alarm went off mad early cuz I was gonna go surfing but you looked super cozy in bed and I didn’t want to leave you so I turned it off and snuggled back up to you even though there were gonna be some killer swells today. You muttered something, half-awake, and I kissed your nose and told you to go back to sleep and you pulled me closer and buried your face in my chest and I just laid there for awhile, holding you until I drifted off. Then you woke me up with coffee and Fruit Loops and a kiss, and you already had the replay of the Stanford game up on the TV even though I know you can’t stand it, but you know that I always like to rewatch the highlights the next day when we win.”

She ducks her head and shrugs shyly when she finishes, cheeks pinking under Alex’s wide-eyed gaze.

“If that’s not love, I dunno what is.”

Alex stares at her for a moment longer, still silent after her speech, and then smacks her in the arm.

“Ow! What was that for?” she cries, grabbing at the spot where Alex hit her.

“You going and saying sappy things like that when I’m trying to be annoyed with you.”

She grins smugly and leans in to smack a wet kiss to Alex’s cheek. There’s a glimmer in Alex’s eyes when she pulls away that warms her whole body and makes her want to say crazy things like 'Be mine forever' and ‘Marry me.’ But that’s for another a day. Though maybe a lot sooner than she originally thought.

Instead she says: “You’ve never been good at staying mad at me, babe. I’m too charming and irresistible.”

Alex playfully shoves her away, chuckles lightly, shakes her head, and gives her a little smile, her eyes brimming with a soft fondness that means even more now that the words have been spoken out loud, a verbal confirmation of what she already knew in her heart.

“You’re an idiot,” Alex murmurs.

She reaches out for Alex and twines their fingers together.

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Really missing these 2 while they're both injured :(
> 
> If you're in your Kellex feels like me, consider checking out my Kellex playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0YexUVayNPBRrYk6t9yHXz
> 
> Or come chat on tumblr - tatooine-xtina.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope this brought you some Kellex joy


End file.
